Page 67 of Soul Mates: Hercules Valentine and I
I select Pop Culture.
“That’s a good one,” Rina says, focusing on the screen.
“Get on your mark,” the host says.
Lake and Rina each position a foot on a pulsingX.
“We should let players choose their marks,” Lake adds.
“Good idea,” Harv says.
I log it.
“Get set… go!” the host exclaims.
The game begins, and so do Lake and Rina. We are all amazed by how real their world looks on the screen. They swing their arms to run to each clue and then select from multiple-choice options. We’re all rooting for them. Natalia uploaded all the questions, so she’s the only one who outright knows the answers. The rest of us guess along with Rina and Lake, shouting our answers, groaning when we miss, celebrating when we get them right.
“Why are you all still here?”
Beaming, I turn to Mason, ready to explain. My glee drops into a look of bewilderment when I see Hercules beside him, staring at the screen with a serious scowl.
I’m stillmute as Jonah talks Mason through our new virtual-reality video game. Then the team members explain the work they each did on the game.
“It’s all possible because our new genius team leader was able to apply our compression technology to give us the bandwidth to get it done,” Harv says.
I dare not look at Hercules. I can feel his eyes on me as I blush, though. “Aw, thanks, Harv, but this was a team effort.”
“The hell it was. Mason, she pulled code from the heavens to get this all up and running.”
I steal a glance at Hercules. He’s studying me with a pinched expression. I shrug, sweating under my clothes. “It was nothing. But we’ve been here late enough already.” I focus on Mason. “We’ll demonstrate it for you in tomorrow’s meeting. We’re all famished.”
Mason and Hercules share a look. Hercules nods.
“Okay, tomorrow,” Mason says.
Hercules glances at me before he enters Mason’s office. A large part of me hopes he’s looking at me that way because he recognizes me. I want to celebrate this victory with my team as Paisley Grove and not the fake Lark Davenport. Surely, after our game hits the market and makes VTI a lot of money, he’ll trust me enough that I can come clean. And he’ll have to appreciate that I discovered their compression technology. There’s no way VTI is going anywhere but up from this point forward.
“Lark?” Lake is shaking my shoulder. I jump when I turn to look at her. “What are you doing for dinner?” she asks.
I picture the sandwiches in my refrigerator as my heart pounds at the thought of Hercules being so near—and without Lilith too. “Um, leftovers.”
“Good. Then you’re coming over to my place. I’ll rustle us up something to eat.
I yawn into my palm. “Yeah?”
She links arms with me. “Yes. You can sleep later. But tonight, I want to show you something.”
Chapter Twenty-Five
Clogged-up
Paisley Grove
To be careful, I ask that we take a taxi to her apartment in Greenwich Village. Even after she explains that it’s an easy and usually drama-free ride on the subway, I insist. I still have to limit my area of movement. New York is small. I can run into anyone who might recognize me at any moment. I can’t risk it, especially after today’s win.
On the way to her apartment, I keep Lake talking about her exhibit at the Skylord on Thursday. “It’s being sponsored by the Friends of Art Association. It’s sort of a big deal. I’m, um…” She searches my eyes as if she wants to say something but is being cautious.
“You’re what?” I ask.
